Big Turnout for Three Bridge Fiasco, and There Might Be Wind!
The annual Three Bridge Fiasco race is set for this weekend. Jim Quanci, commodore of the Singlehanded Sailing Society, which hosts the race, sent us the following update and reminders of what sailors can expect this weekend.
The Singlehanded Sailing Society had the first in-person competitors’ meeting for the Three Bridge Fiasco since the pandemic at Oakland YC on Wednesday evening. Over 100 people attended. The first half-hour was dedicated to free swag awards from the race committee to random skippers drawn from various categories, from “doublehanded skipper with the oldest Fiasco shirt” to “all registered doublehanded skippers” to “singlehanded highest-handicap 2024 Fiasco finisher.” Winners took home insulated stainless steel water bottles showing the predicted currents for the race.
The Race Committee (RC) then talked about the biggest race on the West Coast, and perhaps anywhere in the country this year. With 331 boats registered, there are six boats with sail number 11. Five boats with sail number 6. Multiple boats named Cassiopeia, Chance, Free, Orca, Spirit, Surprise! (including exclamation point) and Tivoli, as well as homonyms like Flight vs. Flite, and Lonestar (no space) vs. Lone Star (with space). It’s important racers always give sail number and boat name to know who’s who! And listen for both when at check-in, since maybe that was the other Surprise! who was recorded.
Some safety steps were highlighted as well. Racers were asked to check inflatable life jackets if they have not been inspected in the last 12 months. Watch out for various marine hazards, and prohibited areas intended to keep racers out of marine hazards. Don’t impede ships.
They touched on the importance of sending a text message with the sail number and boat name if racers will not finish the race.
But the big surprise of the 2025 Fiasco did not get as much attention as the RC was pressed for time: There might be WIND this year! Different forecast models still show different things as of this writing, but here’s the PredictWind PWE model showing 24 knots at Alcatraz mid-day Saturday:
And a more sedate 6 kts from ECMWF model:
Could be windy!
Racers were reminded that Rule 41 prohibits outside help during the race, and that includes paid weather services. Log out of SailFlow before your race.
After the presentation, skippers and crew socialized for an hour to catch up with old friends. Racers were reminded to come to the Fiasco Awards meeting and Corinthian Race Competitors’ Meeting on Wednesday, February 19, at Oakland.
An annual favorite in the Bay, the SSS Three Bridge Fiasco is the biggest yacht race in the US west of the Mississippi River, with 300+ boats every year. The race is a pursuit race (slowest boats start first), starts and finishes on the Cityfront at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the course involves the Blackaller buoy (by the Golden Gate Bridge), Yerba Buena Island/Treasure Island (Bay Bridge), and Red Rock (by the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge). The marks can be rounded in any order and any direction, providing the crazy appeal of this race.
Happy Hatter Feels Like a Willy Wonka Winner
“I found a Willy Wonka golden ticket in my January issue of Latitude!,” writes Ferris Wills from Berkeley. ‘Picked it up at Richmond Marina, in the Tradewinds office near D dock where I keep my Catalina 320 Argo.”
Ferris is our first Golden Ticket winner for 2025 and is looking forward to receiving his new Latitude 38 hat. In the meantime, he shares a little about his sailing life.
“I caught the sailing bug when my college girlfriend’s father invited us to crew for him back in the mid-’80s, shortly after [I graduated] from UCB. He had a beautiful 52-ft ketch he bought in England and sailed into the Mediterranean. We met him in Rome and sailed to Elba and Corsica.
“A couple of years later, we rejoined the boat and crewed on a longer trip in the Aegean, along the Turkish coast. It was such an amazing experience, I knew I would get back to sailing at some point in my life. But that didn’t happen until much later, after I retired!”
These day’s Ferris sails for fun aboard Argo.
“Argo is a great delight for me,” Ferris writes. “I daysail her often in the Bay with my family, friends and dock buddies. We do an occasional weekend cruise down to Pillar Point or up to Drake’s as well. Would love to do the Ha-Ha, but inertia is powerful 😂”
Ferris’s sails often involve circumnavigating Angel Island and “dropping a lunch anchor in Paradise Cove.”
If you see Ferris and Argo out on the Bay, give them a wave!
You can see more Latitude 38 Golden Ticket winners here.
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Sailor John Sweeney Arrested in Point Buckler Island Controversy
Many Bay Area sailors know John Sweeney from his youth sailing championships, his development of the sponsored 11-Meter racing off Pier 39, America’s Cup racing, the America’s Cup IACC boats that raced the Bay, and cruising south in the Baja Ha-Ha. It’s been an inspiring sailing life. On Wednesday he was arrested outside the Solano County courthouse on a bench warrant (for failing to appear in court on related Buckler Island business) following the auction of his former property, Point Buckler Island. Sweeney purchased the 50-acre former duck-hunting island in 2011 and, over time, turned it into a private kiteboarding resort for wealthy members. The changes on the island became a flash point for the BCDC, the California Water Board, the EPA and more. The arrest follows a 10-year lawsuit in which Sweeney won and lost court cases, with the land finally being auctioned by the county.
There’s a lot to cover in a 10-year, multi-agency lawsuit, and even more questions were raised when the gavel fell at Wednesday’s auction. The auction was announced at a starting amount of $0, with bids to be raised in $100 increments. However, bidders and others were surprised to find that a previously arranged bid for $3.8 million was on the table from the John Muir Land Trust. As a result, the “public” auction ended before it began. SFGate described Wednesday’s auction, saying it “descended into chaos” as the surprise bid was revealed.
An article in the Daily Muck highlights lots of disturbing information on the history of the legal battle. The long history of the BCDC in the Bay Area is remembered for cleaning up a filthy, polluted Bay but evolving to torment many waterfront businesses with impossible demands and bureaucratic overreach. The Daily Muck story appears to be a thorough piece of investigative journalism, though it’s hard to find who’s behind the story.
The challenges developing his past successful business ventures pale in comparison to those faced in the 10-year battle with various government agencies. We spoke with Sweeney, who did refer us to both The Daily Muck and to a story in the Daily Republic from Fairfield. The collective stories paint a complicated picture of government agency process for what appear to be minor owner improvements. In the short term, with a 10-year legal history, it would be hard to draw conclusions without much more investigation, but Sweeney’s situation raises many questions about the process and the agencies involved.
Season Champions, Part II — More One Designs Plus BAMA
The fleets celebrated in this second 2024 Season Champs feature range from tiny El Toros to substantial Express 37s to a 44-ft trimaran, with all sorts in between. We’ll start somewhere in the middle.
Moore 24 Roadmaster Series — Mooregasm, Steve Bourdow, SCYC
The Roadmaster Series consisted of nine events over 17 race days. Each boat’s best 12 scores (including up to two local optional substitution scores) were used to determine the series scoring.
Moore 24 master of the road Steve Bourdow said that the Tahoe Roadmaster regatta, hosted by South Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club in June, was the most interesting for him. “First, my daughter Claire did bow for only her second time on the boat.” Second, Steve had never raced in South Lake Tahoe before.
“Our expectations were low for breeze. There were light moments, but there was also good breeze at times. It was super-shifty. We had a long-distance race all the way into Emerald Bay and back, which was fantastically fun and beautiful. The regatta came down to a last-beat battle with the Fennells (Paramour, #75), trading the lead, a succession of lee bows and lots of tacks — super-tense. But Karl Robrock was fantastic in the cockpit, Mike Holt took full control of tactics, Claire Bourdow called puffs, and I focused purely on boatspeed. We trusted each other to do our jobs. We each made some mistakes, but the focus of each person added up to excellence as a team — and that’s memorable.
“The SCYC Roadmaster in May was exciting. It was held on Mother’s Day weekend, and we couldn’t find anyone to crew. We hobbled it together at the last minute, with my daughter jumping on to do bow with zero experience and another newbie doing middle, with Karl in the cockpit. We had to set goals accordingly, with low expectations. However, we did great! Karl and I started racing like we had a seasoned crew, which led to some exciting spinnaker douses, but our newbies handled things just fantastic and we finished second, way above goal.”
Steve was the class president in 2024, so he prioritized attending every regatta possible. It’s also time for Karl to get his own Moore out on the race course. “So, I’m going to dial back my effort a little.
“For the fleet, two exciting things are happening. First, we’re having our first destination Nationals in many years, during Long Beach Race Week in June, an exciting new venue that we hope the fleet will rally toward. It will also draw in the handful of Moores currently located in SoCal.
“Second, our class has decided to lean into offshore racing again. After many years of increasing regulatory requirements that bring expensive equipment needs that were intimidating for Moore 24 owners, the boat remains an excellent offshore competitor. As costs come down and the requirements stabilize, we’d like to encourage more Moore 24s to tool up and compete offshore. We’re planning a training workshop, recommended equipment lists and how-tos, and are putting two offshore races on the Roadmaster calendar as counters.”
Also in this feature:
Moore 24 Shorthanded Series — Flying Circus, Bill & Melinda Erkelens, RYC; J/88 Fleet 3 — Ravenette, Brice Dunwoodie, StFYC/GGYC; J/24 Fleet 17 — Evil Octopus, Jasper Van Vliet, RYC; El Toro Senior — Henry, Tom Burden, RYC; Express 37 — Expeditious, Bartz Schneider, SFYC; Knarr — Viva, Don Jesberg/Ethan Doyle, SFYC; Express 27 Long Distance Series — Salty Hotel, John Kearney, CYC; Express 27 Championship Series — Motorcycle Irene, Julia & Will Paxton, RYC; and BAMA Cup — Caliente, Explorer 44 Truls Myklebust, BAMA.
In the next issue of Latitude 38, we’ll visit the champions of the various Yacht Racing Association series and check in with the singlehanders and doublehanders of the Singlehanded Sailing Society.
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